Page 35 - 2016 AMA Spring

kit on trial
DMM Dragon 2 Cam Review
By Ryan Lang
Ifirst reviewed the original DMM Dragon Cam in August 2013, the performance resulted in me buying the whole set. I have been happily using these ever since and have never looked back.
DMM kindly provided me a sample of the new Dragon 2 Cam in September last year to review.
What’s new?
The most obvious change is the thicker Cam lobes which has increased the surface contact area on the rock. The devil is in the detail, as this change has also increased the amount of corners by a factor of 3. It is the corners that bite into the rock, therefore it stands to reason if there are more corners, there should be more grip.
There is also a new raw aluminium finish on the Dragon 2. The reason being that the anodised finish on the original Dragon is less grippy. This will explain why I was advised to scratch the anodised finish off the original Dragon before use.
According to DMM the triple grip Cam lobes give increased holding power and torsional rigidity plus reduced ‘walking’.
The next change that I noticed is the alteration of the thumb press. It has been made bigger and the grooves are deeper. According to DMM this will provide increased grip which should prevent fumbling and make first time placements easier to achieve.
The last change that I noticed was the stitching of the dyneema sling. The Dragon 2 has more compact stitching and less heat shrink. This is to make re-racking of the Cams, quicker and easier.
How did it perform?
I began testing the Dragon 2 against the Dragon at ground level. I placed both Cams in numerous gear placements to see if there was any difference in holding power and walking.
I have never had any issue with placing the original Cam and was always confident that they would hold in the event of a fall. Once I had placed the Dragon 2 in the same placements, I immediately noticed that the grip was a lot more positive. I always give a Cam placement a couple of light tugs in the direction of fall just to check the seating. The Dragon 2 seemed to bite into the rock more than its predecessor and gave the impression that it was a more solid placement.
It was hard to test whether the amount of walking of the Dragon 2 was reduced, but due to the more positive bite, it would make complete sense that it would walk less.
From a psychological perspective, when I was climbing above a Cam, I was slightly happier knowing that it was the Dragon 2 below me. During the trial I carried both the Dragon and Dragon 2 in size 2. I found myself placing the Dragon 2 by default first, even if it was harder to access from my harness (I carried one Cam on each side).
I decided that the best way to test the thumb press was to conduct a blind test. Therefore I chose a Cam at random from behind my back with my eyes closed and mimicked placing it above my head at full reach. I then did the same test with the remaining Cam and then made a note of which Cam had the best thumb grip. Neither felt better or grippier. I think the only way to make the grip signifi- cantly better would be to have a knurled finish rather than grooves. However I don’t recall my thumb ever slipping from the thumb grip when trying to place it. Perhaps this is a non-issue?
I found the Dragon 2 Cam easier not only to re-rack, but also to extend for initial use. The dyneema sling joint is 2.5cm shorter than before, but the sling loop is the same length. This means that there is 10% more sling to work with when trying to extend it or re-rack it.
Summary
The Dragon Cam is a great device to begin with, so the fact that DMM have managed to improve upon the original is great. I am really impressed with the extra grip provided with the aluminium finish, wider lobes and extra bite points. The improved dyneema sling also makes the Cam easier to use. There is nothing wrong with the original Dragon Cam, I still happily use them. If you are about to purchase new Cams, either the Dragon or Dragon 2 will be more than sufficient for your needs. If money isn’t the deciding factor, I would recommend the Dragon 2.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 33
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01/07/2016
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